Machine for making stereotype-matrices



(No Model.) 3' SheetsSheet 1.

J. R. ROGERS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE MATRICES. No. 389,108. Patented Sept. 4,1888.

(No Model.) -3 Sheets -Shet 2.

J. R. ROGERS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STERBOTYPB MATRICES. No. 389,108. Patented Sept. 4,1888.

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{No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. R. ROGERS.

MACHINE 3011 MAKING STEREOTYPE MATRICES.

No. s89,108."5-:-:; UP ten ted Sept. 4, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT V Or ce.

JOHN R. ROGERS, OF TJORAIN, ASSIGNOR TO HOYT, RUTHRAUFF & XVAGNER, OFCLEVELAND, OHIO.

MACHINE FOR MAKING STEREOTYPE-MATRICES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,108, datedSeptember 4-, 1888.

Application filed February 10, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. Rocnns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lorain, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio,have

invented a new and useful Machine for Making Stereotype-lllatrices, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for mak- 1ng stereotype-matrices;and it consists of the several novel features of construction and newcombinations of parts hereinafter fully described, aud then definitelypointed out in the claims. The invention is embodied in the mechanr 5ism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a top orplan view, and Fig. 3 is an end View, of the same. Fig. 4. is a top viewof 2o the bed or table upon which the machine stands,showingthejustifyiug and the gripping mechanism. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal andvertical section through said table in line 5 5 on Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is adetached and enlarged 2 view of a portion of the arch supporting theupper ends of a series of wires upon which the types are strung, showingthe types hanging suspended under the arch and the latch mechanism bywhich the types are held and 0 individually released for assemblingthem. Fig. 7 is a side View of the same. Fig. 8 is a vertical section ofa group of assembled types on line 8 8 through Fig. 2, showing the typesgripped and in position for making the llpression.

Similarletters rcferto similar parts throughout the several views.

A is the bed or table supporting all the working parts of the machine,and it may be supported on suitable legs or frame, which may be portableor not, as may be desirable.

B is a frame supported a little above the table, and is pivoted at thetwo rear corners to cars or lugs b b at the rear side of thetable, by

means of which said frame and its accompanying parts may be tilted overbackward, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

0 is a key-board, supported at a convenient height by posts a c,standing on the said frame B, the keys being arranged in two banksSerial No. 263,656. (No model.)

for convenience and compactness. These keys resemble those of a piano ororgan; but they may be modified from this arrangement, if desired.

D is an are or segment of a circle forming a bow, supported upon posts(I d, also standing on the frame B. It is located on a higher level andback of the said key-board and on a plane about forty-five degrees tothe horizontal plane of the table A.

E is a series of wires adj ustably secured in the said are or bow bymeans of set-screws e. Said wires extend forward and downward from saidare or bow, and are concentrated into two vertical planes near together,and are each bent to bring their ends on a horizontal plane parallel tothat of the table beneath and forward of the keyboard. The forward endsof said wires E are adj ustably secured in a post, F. standing on themiddle of the front bar of the frame B. Beneath the frame B is attacheda foot, I), which supports the front of frame B. Upon the said wires Eare strung types G, which are preferably made of steel or aresteel-faced, each wire supporting the types of a single letter. Saidtypes are made in varying lengths to correspond with the height of thelower ends of their respective wires above the table, the object ofwhich will hereinafter appear. These wires form tramways on which thetypes are made to travel, for the purpose of assembling them in thecomposition of words and sentences. The wires are sufficient in numberto contain full alphabets of both upper and lower case types, togetherwith all the punctuation marks, figures, and with spaces, each wireholding a number of types of one sort, the wires together constituting asmall font capable of setting up any ordinary 0 line of reading matter,the design of my machine bcing to set up one line at a time, to justifythe line, take the impression therefrom to make a matrix, and thendistribute said line, and repeat this operation, whereby 5 a column ofsingle-line matrices are produced in a galley, ready for casting astereotypeplate, either in full column or paragraphs.

The mechanism for assembling the aforesaid types, justifying, taking theimpression there- :00 from, and again distributing them is described asfollows: Just above and in front of are or bow D is located a second areor bow, H, supported by arms hat the'ends and middle of the bow, saidarms being fixed in slots in said bow H, for adjustment-and anotherpurpose, hereinafter shown. To the'arc or bow H are fixed latchesLdesigned for use in releasing one type at a time in the operation ofassembling said types. These latches consist of plates pivoted to thebow and having a slot, '6, forming lips, bent so as to bring one lipforward of the other, the forward lip serving as a stop to hold the typefrom sliding down the wire, except whenever the latch is turned, andthen the forward lip releases but one type at a time, because when thelatch is turned it brings the rear lip in front of the second type andholdsit with the others behind it,thereby releasing only the firstone,which slides down its wire by its own gravity to the place ofassembly. The said latches are operated from the key-board in the mannerand by the means as follows: Each of said latch-plates is provided withan arm or lever, J, connected by a cord, K, passing over a pulley, j, onbow .H and rollers K on key-board O, with a corresponding key. A thirdare or bow, L, is provided abo e the said are or bow H, and is securedthereto by arms Zat the ends and middle. To this are or bow L areattached small pulleys 3', through which the cords K pass, connectingthe said latches with the keys. A spring, j is attached to the end ofeach of said levers and connected with the bow L, the tension of whichdraws the latches over and holds them in their normal position. Thetypes and their latches are arranged in order on each side of the middleof said arcs or bows,

to accommodate the assembling of the types on the two perpendicular rowsof wires at the front. At the middle part of the are, on the middlewire, for convenience, may be arranged the spaces for dividing words ina line, which space consists of a shank of rubber provided with a hookor eye, onvwhich it is suspended upon the wires. The rubber shank isobliquely perforated, which will allow it to be more easily compressed.

The justifying mechanism consists as follows: Across the bed or tableare fixed ways a a, in which is placed a sliding jaw, N, which isoperated by means of a lever, N fulcrumed to a short post or block, if,on the table A, and this lever N is connected to a perpendicular lever,N fulcrumed to a post, a, on the table A. Said lever N is provided witha latch-lever and rod, N, engaging with a circular rack on top of posta, whereby saidlever may be locked for holding the sliding jaw in placewhen the line of types has been compressed to the proper limit forjustifying a line.

A gripping mechanism for leveling or dressing the line of type andfirmly holding the line consists as follows: 0 is a fixed jaw secured tothe bed or table in a line at one side of the assembled types, andagainst which the types rest, the types having .a shoulderfwhich sets onthe upper edge of said jaw. P is a movable jaw arranged opposite thesaid fixed jaw 0. It has a slanting face, the lower edge of whichengages with a nick in the edge of the types OPPQSilJe to the saidshoulder. When the types are gripped between these jaws, their faces arebrought into perfect alignment and firm] y held there. Said jaw ispivoted in slots in the bed, and its lower ends,which extend below thebed, are connected by a connectingrod, 19, attached to a cross-bar andconnecting it with a hand-lever, Q, fulcrumed in a slot near theleft-hand end of the table, by which said jaw is operated. Said leverQisalso provided with a pawl, q, engaging with notches in a curved rack, g,by which the jaw may be locked.

The mechanism for making the impression in the matrix is as follows: Inthe front part of the bed or table A is made a longitudinal opening, inwhich is placed a long narrow plate, R, capable of being raised andlowered. It is provided at the ends with corner bearings, which slide inways a", fitted therefor in the bed or table. Journaled in bearings s son the under side of the table A is a short shaft, S, one end of whichextends outthrough the side of the bed or table, and is provided with ahand-lever, T, by which said shaft is turned. Upon said shaft, betweenits bearings, is fixed a short lever or cam, T ,the moving end of whichbears against a middle crossrib, t, on the under side of the said plateR, located directly under the place of type assembly. In the upper faceof said plate R is made a narrow longitudinal groove, a. V is a galleyfor holding the matrices. It is the same width as the plate R, and isprovided with a longitudinal rib, v, on its under side, which fits andruns in the aforesaid longitudinal groove u in the plate B. This servesas a guide for the movement of the galley. Upon one edge of thegalley-side is made a row of ratchet-teeth, in which a pawl, w, attachedto the movable jaw P, engages and serves to feed the galley along thebed or table.

The operations of this machine are as follows: The type are assembed andset together to spell and compose words by the operator manipulating thekeys in like manner to that of the type-writer. When enough words arethus composed, using the aforesaid compressible spaces between the wordsto fully coinplete a line, the line is then justified by moving thejaw Nforward,compressing the line to the required width of column. Next-theline is gripped by bringing up the jaw I, which catches into the nicksof the types and forces the types against the fixed jaw O, bringingtheir shoulders down onto said jaw. The types are now in perfectposition for making an impression, which is done by hearing down on thehand-lever T, thus forcing the plate R and the galley containing thematrix material upward against the said assembled types.

\Vhen the impression is made, the types are released from the grip ofthe justifier N and vise or grip O P. New, by taking hold of the handleZ on the front of the frame B, the frame and the mechanism supported byit are tilted over baekward,as seen in dottedlines on Fig.3. This causesall the types to run down back on their respective wires to theiroriginal places next to the are or bow D, and then the frame is returnedto its normal position,with the types all properly distributed and readyfor repeating the operations just described. The arcs or bows H L areslightly raised from are or how D, to let the types pass the latches, by

v, means of a rest or suitable pins upon which the said bow H strikes.This allows the bow D to move slightly in the slots h in how Hsufficient for the type to pass under thelatches.

The matrix material may be made of papiermacho, and I prefer to prepareit in blocks of a size sufficient to receive the impression of one lineonly, and arrange them in galleys of, say, one column length, and makethe impressions in said blocks in succession, feeding the galley alongon the table line by line as the impressions are made, by means of thepawl on the movable gripping-jaw P playing on the ratcheted edge of thegalley.

Many of the errors that occur in the present method of type-settingcannot occur with this machinesuch as letters turned upside down, thedropping out of a letter, or the pieing of a line. Errors may occur bythe misspelling of a word or improper punctuation, 8w, by the mistakesof the operator. Such errors I correct by taking out the imperfectblock, insert a new one in its place, reset the line, and make animpression therefrom, thereby perfecting the galley very quickly andwith very little trouble or expense.

Having described the construction and operations of my invention, what Iclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination ofsuspended types, with inclined wires, upon whichthe said types are traversed by gravity for assemblage and distribution,substantially as described.

2. As an improved form of compressible spaces,a shank of rubberobliquely perforated, having a hook or eye at top, by which it may betraversed on inclined wires by gravity for assemblage and distributionwith the types, substantially as described.

3. The combination of types strung on iuclined tranrwires, having theirupper ends supported on an are or how and their lower ends concentratedand brought into two parallel vertical planes, whereby the types areassembled together for composing words and sentences, substantially asdescribed.

' 4. The combination of types strung on inclined tram-wires, whose upperends are supported on an are or how and their lower ends concentratedand brought into two parallel vertical planes and supported by avertical post, with a key-board mechanism, substantially as described,and with cords and latches attached to the bow, whereby said types arereleased one by one by the operations of said key-board and latchmechanism for the assemblage of the types, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

5. The combination, with an are or bow, of the tram-wires having typesstrung thereon and arranged in inclined lines downward from said are orhow in part of their lengths, and having their lower portionsconcentrated and brought into horizontal lines and two vertical planes,whereby said types are traversed by gravity downward to said verticalplanes for assemblage in the composition of words and sentences,substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the arcs or bows H L, of the keys and cords Kand latches I, with the tram-wires E, having types G strung there'- on,and the latch-plates I, pivoted to the bow H, and having lever-armJ,connected to cords K, leading to the key-board (3, and provided withretracting'springsj, said latches having slots i, forming lips by whichthe types Gare held and released one at a time by the movements of thekeys through the medium of said latches, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with table A, of a tilt-- ingframe, B, supportingthe inclined typebearing tram-wires, whereby the inclination of saidwires on said frame to the plane of the table may be reversed and thetypes caused to traverse the wires for distribution, substan tially asdescribed.

8. The combination, with the bed or table A, of the frame B, pivoted atrearside to cars or lugs I), and supporting the key-board O on posts 00, the arcs D H L on posts d d and post F, said arcs and post Fsupporting inclined train-wires E, on which the types G are strung, andthe cords K, operating the latches I, whereby said frame and itsaccompanying mechan' ism may be tilted over backward for reversing theposition of the tram-wires and cause the assembled types to run backwardagain for distribution, substantially as specified.

9. The combination, with the types assembled in the manner described, ofthe fixed jaw O and pivoted jaw P, attached to the table A and actuatedby means of the connecting-rod p, connected to hand-lever Q, providedwith pawl q, and curved rack q", whereby the line of assembled types isgripped and held in alignment, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

JOHN R. ROGERS.

\Vitnesscs:

E. N. ltloCo'nnnim, L. MoGLoY.

